he's not been captured but police say they've arrested nine others in connection with the girl's shooting. among those arrested his fiancee and his mother. malala was shot in the head by taliban militants two weeks ago for speaking out for girls rights. she remains at a hospital in great britain. much more news, political news coming your way. i'm fredricka whitfield. "the situation room" with wolf blitzer begins right now. thanks very much. an interview with president obama that none of us were meant to see. it goes public. it includes some revealing remarks about his opponents and his plans for a second term. also, mitt romney's sidetracked by some controversial remarks about rape and abortion by a senate candidate he endorsed. and newly revealed e-mail, they're raising new questions right now in the hours following the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

just 13 days until the presidential election and the obama and romney campaigns, they are kicking into overdrive as the candidates make their final push to win the white house. cnn correspondents are following their every move. they're reporting from coast to coast and from all the most crucial states, any one of which has the potential to decide who the next president of the united states will be. let's begin this hour's coverage in iowa where president obama kicked off a two-day coast-to-coast swing through eight states. he's calling it a campaign marathon extravaganza. likening it to an all-nighter. no surprise his itinerary consistents almost entirely of battleground states. cnn's chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is

traveling with the president. >> reporter: wolf, president obama is hopping around the nation stumping for early votes and undecided voters. it's the kind of whirlwind tour you usually see in the last 48 hours before election day. the fact they're doing it 13 days before the ballots are cast is a sign just how important the early vote is to this campaign. now, from davenport, iowa, he heads to colorado, then he has stops in florida, virginia, again in ohio. he's going to las vegas, nevada, overnight. he also stops in las vegas -- in los angeles where he will be taping with jay leno and in chicago, illinois, where he'll be casting his own early ballot. he had a bit of a new message when he spoke to voters here in iowa telling them this is where it all started. but also making the case that he is the same person he has been all along. they know him better than anyone. and drawing a contrast with mitt

romney, his values haven't changed. take a listen. >> there are some folks in this crowd who probably have been following me since i was running for the united states senate. and you know what, you can -- like this guy right here who i served with in the united states senate, and, you know, you can take a videotape of things i said ten years ago, 12 years ago, and you'd say, man, this is the same guy. has the same values. cares about the same people. doesn't forget where he came from. knows who he's fighting for. and you know what? i haven't finished all the work that we set out to do back in 2008, but i have fought for you every single day that i've held this office. >> reporter: and, wolf, also a bit of news. in an interview with "the des

moines register" that was supposed to be off the record but then put on, the president revealed a bit of his second term agenda if re-elected. he said he believes he could get immigration reform done in the first year and turn this sequester crisis into something like the grand bargain, wolf. >> jessica yellin, thanks very much. that interview by the way with "the des moines register" was supposed to be offed record. after the newspaper protested, the obama campaign agreed to have it published in full. not only did the president say he's confident he can get immigration reform passed if re-elected, jessica just reported that, he went onto say this and i'm quote iing "and si this is off the record, i will be very blunt. should i win a second term, a big reason i will win a second term is because the republican nominee and the republican party have so alienated the fastest growing demographic group in the country, the latino community." a direct quote from the

president in that interview. meanwhile, republican challenger mitt romney is facing another distraction in the interview of abortion rights for women. cnn's national political correspondent jim acosta is with the romney campaign in reno, nevada. >> reporter: in what's now a horse race to the finish, mitt romney was rounding up votes in nevada and trying to stay on message on the economy. >> the president doesn't understand what it takes to get this economy going. he doesn't have a plan to get jobs for americans. i do. and that's why i'm going to win. >> reporter: romney's in the midst of a swing state blitz flying from colorado to nevada to iowa to ohio then back to iowa, back to ohio and then onto florida and virginia. >> this is that issue that every candidate for federal or state office -- >> reporter: but a new distraction cropped up where richard mourdock made jaws drop with his comments on why abortion should be outlawed in the case of rape. >> i came to realize life is that gift from god. and i think even when life

begins in that horrible situation of rape that it is something that god intended to happen. >> this fall i'm supporting richard mourdock for senate. >> reporter: the problem for romney, he'd already taped this endorsement ad for mourdock. and the super pac pounced. >> it's by partisanship that's taken us to the brink of bankruptcy. we don't need bipartisanship. >> i hope you'll join me in supporting richard mourdock. >> senator. >> reporter: it didn't take long for some top republicans to distance themselves from mourdock's comments. new hampshire senator canceled an appearance with mourdock. >> the comments were made. the comments have been misunderstood. >> reporter: soon after that mourdock held a news conference to apologize. >> i don't think god wants rape. i don't think he wants that at all because rape is evil. i abhor evil. >> reporter: despite the controversy, the romney campaign said it's not calling on

mourdock to pull the endorsement ad. the romney campaign released a statement saying he agrees with mr. mourdock and the comments do not reflect governor romney's views. we disagree on the policy regarding rape and incest but still support him. on a conference call with supporters, a democratic party official said that's not far enough. >> he should go further and demand that the ad featuring him speaking directly to camera on mourdock's behalf be taken off the air. >> reporter: democrats say the controversy should serve as an election warning to women voters who were upset by missouri gop senate candidate todd akin's comments on abortion over the summer. >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> that report from jim acosta who's traveling with romney in reno, nevada. let's go inside the race right now for the white house with our chief political analyst gloria borger. gloria, seven of the battleground states, they're now voting early. what if anything does that mean big picture?

>> well, it's very important. you just heard jessica yellin say the president's doing this whirlwind tour that's because of early voting in some of the swing states. we know what happened in 2008, wolf. and that is one-third of all votes across the country were cast by early and ab seb tee ballots. and in swing states, wolf, there were nearly 16 million votes cast before election day. that is so important. take a look at some of these key battleground states, the number of early votes cast. you see here iowa, ohio, florida. florida, almost a million early ballots already cast. and there's still almost two weeks left to go. and in 2008, wolf, almost half of the entire florida electorate voted early. so what this does is allows campaigns to stretch out their mobilization efforts. and right now they have the luxury of targeting unlikely voters. so they can get those people to the poll. they've identified their likely voters. they know how to get them to the

polls on election day. but this allows them to identify a whole new group of people that they would hope to bring in. and democrats had a real advantage in 2008. republicans say they've learned a lot of lessons from the democrats and they're catching up. >> so with 13 days to go, what factors are you seeing that could determine the outcome? >> above all else enthusiasm and intensity of voters. take a look at this gallup poll here. in june you'll se that the republicans were at 32%. now 45%. up 13 points intensity. democrats up more, wolf. up 16 points. gallup says that may be because of women who focus in late on the election and they are turning towards democrats getting more enthusiastic. but republicans still remain as you see overall with the more enthusiastic base than the democrats. so we see a country that is

getting increasingly interested in this election. and we see republicans and democrats almost at parody now chr, which is good news for president obama because he was worried about the disaffected democrats coming out. >> american cross roads has a new ad featuring clint eastwood, the star, the movie star. i'll play a little clip. >> obama's second term would be a rerun of the first that our country just couldn't survive that. we need someone who can turn it around fast. and that man is mitt romney. there's not much time left and the future of our country is at stake. >> here's the question. he was widely ridiculed. >> right. >> -- as a result of talking to the empty chair. >> there was no chair in that ad. >> no chair. i didn't see a chair there, but he was widely panned. a lot of republicans themselves thought it was inappropriate especially coming after that excellent film portraying mitt romney getting the stage set for

mitt romney and then all of a sudden he starts rambling in front of a chair for 12 or 13 or 14 -- >> right. >> -- why do they use him? >> well, of course this republican focus group is clint eastwood and saying all of us in the media were completely obsessive about clint eastwood. they focus grouped it and tested off the charts and this particular ad in important states, florida and ohio, did very well for them. they believe he's not your run of the mill celebrity. they believe clint eastwood is iconic, that he will appeal to republican voters in swing states and forget about what happened at the convention that was just a bunch of media elite panning clint eastwood. >> all right. but i suspect some undecided voters in florida and ohio and virginia may not necessarily be thrilled by that. >> that's why there wasn't an empty chair in the ad. >> you know, i'm just getting this information. our sister publication, "time" magazine has a brand new poll

that just came out and shows obama leading romney by five in ohio. obama holds a 49%, 44% lead over romney in a survey taken monday and tuesday night the poll's margin of error plus or minus three percentage points. 49%, 44%, if you're president of the united states in the key battleground state of ohio, that's decent. that's pretty good. >> yeah. did it say who's in the lead? obama's in the lead or romney? >> yeah. barack obama leads mitt romney by five points in ohio according to a new "time" poll. obama 49%, romney 44%. >> it's almost within the margin of error, wolf. i spoke to a senior romney advisor today who said they believe it's an absolute dead heat in the state of ohio. so there you have obama up. don't forget, the president has road to an electoral college victory without the state of ohio, but it is very difficult if not impossible for mitt romney to get there. because if he loses ohio, he has

to run the table on a lot of states right now he's not ahead in. >> no republican has won the white house without ohio. >> that's right. >> so with 13 days to go according to this "time" magazine poll obama's up by five in ohio. three percentage point margin of error. >> good news for the white house. >> yep. an october surprise, not quite. but donald trump is proposing a $5 million deal to president obama. you want the details? we'll share them with you when we come back. you've been busy for a dead man. after you jumped ship in bangkok, i thought i'd lost you. surfing is my life now. but who's going to .... tell the world that priceline has even faster, easier ways to save you money. . . on hotels, flights & cars? you still have it. i'll always have it. so this is it? we'll see where the waves take me.

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season. sort of an election year rite of passage when voters come to expect last-minute revelations intended to effect the outcome of the race. but what was being billed as donald trump's bombshell announcement is now being viewed as yet another attempt by trump to promote the aims of the birther movement conspiracy theories questioning whether the president is a natural born citizen. when donald trump, who is a big mitt romney supporter, announced on twitter he was going to make one of his big announcements, there was immediate suspicion that what he was suggesting might be an october surprise which would or could damage president obama. but when trump's announcement came, it was not really a surprise at all. actually, trump made an offer to the president, a bargain. >> if barack obama opens up and gives his college records and applications, and if he gives his passport applications and records, i will give to a

charity of his choice a check immediately for $5 million. >> reporter: and why was trump doing this besides trying to attract attention? because he claimed -- >> president obama is the least transparent president in the history of this country. there's never been anything like it. >> reporter: president obama's team sidestepped the issue. when asked about it, an advisor said direct those questions to boston because donald trump is mitt romney's biggest supporter so he owns everything he says. the immediate reactions on social media were well graphic. anatomical references all over twitter only the mildest we could repeat here. could somebody get a muzzle for donald trump. another said donald trump is a piece of work. can you imagine what the world would be like if he and his hairline were president? trump defended his offer to the president in a pre-taped interview on piers morgan tonight. >> i'm doing this in a positive manner. this isn't a negative.

this is a positive. this can clear up any doubt about the president. and that's a positive thing. not a negative thing. >> of course you can also make the case the democrats have their own wackiness going on right now. the celebrity defense lawyer gloria alred was in court today trying to get a judge to unseal testimony given by mitt romney in a contentious divorce case involving one of his business colleagues a decade ago. the boston globe asked for the testimony to be released. now alred joined in, she represents the ex-wife in the old divorce case. we'll see where that leads. >> you said this is the silly season? >> absolutely. >> it's 13 days before the election. >> and we've still got a ways to go. >> more in this, you think? >> i would guess. almost always. as you know. >> good report. we'll have much more when donald trump joins piers later tonight, 9:00 p.m. eastern, 6:00 p.m. pacific. a check of the other day's top stories and hillary clinton comes out firing.

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lisa sylvester's monitoring some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now including syrian rebel's skeptical reaction to a so-called proposed cease fire. >> that's right, wolf. the syrian government is proposing a cease fire that would end the nearly two-year

old war, at least temporarily. the deal would only last for four days during a muslim holiday. even so experts wonder if the offer is sincere. experts say president bashar al assad may just be wanting some breathing room to reach out to the international community. the opposition says 32,000 people have died in that civil war. and more than one in seven people get sick from tainted food every year. that is the finding of the u.s. public interest research group. the report found 48 million people are sickened every year. and the problem is getting worse. with 44% more americans getting ill or dying than just two years ago. the group also worries about the impact of congress cutting funding for the fda. and mitt romney may want to cut funding for big bird, but a halloween costume company loves the yellow muppet. the republican candidate's comment about pbs funding at the first presidential debate led to a run on big bird costumes. the company licensed to sell them says it sold out and can't get anymore in time for

halloween. and here's why. probably not a big surprise, the costumes are made in china. and ban ki moon showed off his lighter side today. he got down with rapper psy, you know him, he's the guy who started with the gangnam dance craze. the two most famous south koreans, ban says he's now thinking of throwing gangnam dance parties at the u.n. just to lighten up maybe some tough negotiations. we've seen some of the dances going on. i don't know if you know the dance, but i'm not going to attempt -- >> can you show us a little bit? >> i'm not going to try. i would not either. but there are some people off cameras trying to do the dance. >> there they go. >> there it is. there's the dance. >> let it breathe a little bit. >> we've got van jones coming up in the next and he's trying to do it. >> a billion people have seen that video. >> i think what we're going to have to do in the near next section, we might have to have

people -- but i've seen you also dancing a time or two, wolf. >> he's good. psy is good. >> who knew a dance like that. but you've got two of the most famous koreans getting together trying it out at the u.n. >> ban ki moon, he can move. >> so can you. so can you. >> thank you. they're the one group of voters who will make all the difference on election day. up next, the final appeal to undecided voters. prix circuit. the perfect place to bring the all-new cadillac ats to test the 2.0-liter turbo engine. [ engine revs ] ♪ [ derek ] 272 horsepower. the lightest in its class. the cadillac ats outmatches the bmw 3 series. i cannot believe i have ended the day not scraping some red paint off on these barriers. ♪ [ male announcer ] the all-new cadillac ats.

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>> they've only had two years to think about it. you're idiots. make up your minds. >> let's get straight to sirius xm radio host pete dominick and our excellent, excellent panel. >> thank you very much, wolf blitzer, for letting us borrow "the situation room" for a minute. let's get started right away with the brilliant "new york times" ross doult, these undecideds, they don't exist? >> no, i think they do exist. if you have national polling numbers showing obama and romney both around 47%, there are clearly some voters out there who, you know, some of it's turnout and so on but who might still make up their mind. i think it's worth saying something in defense of them, right? >> no, we're out of time. sorry. >> no, but it's easy for people in our business -- and i'm including you here i know -- >> of totally decideds. >> well, to assume you listen to david letterman, oh, you've had two years to make up your minds. but actual normal human beings

with lives and jobs who don't come on television and talk about politics for a living might have reasons to, you know, just tune into the election in the last couple months. i think that being undecided can be a noble and virtuous calling. >> they're undecided, uneducated, uninformed, uninterested. i'm sorry. >> i don't believe them. >> yeah. they just want attention. >> i don't believe that most of them are undecided. i believe that some of them are genuinely afraid to express their true political opinions. i've got several cousin who is profess to be undecided, but i don't think they want to tell me that they're voting for romney. >> that's bad. >> i don't believe a lot of them are voting. i think a lot of people who leave up their decision to the last minute are similarly going to stay home. >> i don't personally know any. none of us here do. they're either very -- >> facebook friends, maybe. >> but the thing is a lot of them the only way to really gauge them now is based on independent vote. that's going to be the swing vote right now. and what we're seeing now with

early and absentee voting, we're seeing with the activity that we're seeing, we're seeing much more republicans come out as opposed to 2008 than democrats and we're seeing many more independents come out. and typically what we're seeing is the independent and undecided voters, they are not going to vote for the incumbent in office. so that bodes well for governor romney. >> but they don't know paper or plastic. they go to the fridge and can't decide what they want. >> van, you know -- van, i'll have to defend them again. >> i think this election is different than the other elections. usually you get to choose between two people running for president. in this situation you're choosing between obama and five or six different romneys. and it just takes a lot more time. it's just harder to figure out who you're going to pick. and the other thing is, to your point because i do want to say, for some people their relationship to the election is like my relationship to the super bowl. i am not into football. i don't watch football. >> comic book nerd. >> geek, geek, geek. so about two days before the

super bowl i ask people who i know who are you for and that's what i'm for. so i do think there are people who they don't recognize that -- but i do think the fact mitt romney has been so many different people in the course of this campaign it's hard to make up your mind. >> what are they undecided about? how can you be undecided? >> look at it this way. most people who work in politics for a living go into politics because they really care about that particular issue and that issue puts them on the right or the left. it's the environment. it's social issues. it's taxes. it's foreign policy and so on. but people who don't work in politics for a living are often, you know, not strictly pro-life or strictly pro-choice. >> you're just calling condescending -- >> no. they like low taxes and high medicare spending. and in this election talking particularly on fiscal issues, you're voting for two bad options. if you vote for romney, popular

programs are going to get cut more than a few -- >> and if you're a woman you won't have any rights. so that's kind of tough. >> that's exactly what's going to happen, van. >> the positive thing here the republicans and the romney campaign continue to go aft swing voters and people that don't have a long voting record on one side or the other whereas the obama campaign is going after the base and turning them out getting them to vote early. i've been involved in several focus groups of undecided voters and they're very passionate, they're very emotionally driven. what we've seen prior to the debates and post debate, before the debates they weren't sure if they liked mitt romney. now they see him as a likable person. he's an incredible leader. he's got sound fiscal policies. >> i have a hard time believing that these undecideds are even watching the debates. they're watching football. i don't care. ross made a lot of good points. but you don't know how you feel and which is best for the jobs and economy, but there are all the other issues. what do you think about the environment? climate change? equality? there's got to be something. >> but there are a lot of people who are in the middle on the two

parties. we're having an argument today about abortions in cases of rape -- >> the undecided voters aren't people -- i mean, they are people who are in the middle but also the people describing, they're low information voters. >> i'm not defending all undecided voters here. >> you have an undecided voter bumper sticker on your undecided car. >> i'm just saying i know some undecideds. they're good people. some of my best friends. they work hard. they play by the rules. >> i understand. >> but here, i can change -- i can easily change any undecideds' mind right now. where's the camera? each one of these candidates, no matter who wins, one of them is going to choose one to three supreme court justices. if you don't know how powerful the supreme court is, don't vote. done. move on. >> but how do you think the supreme court should rule? right? again, take the issue of abortion, right? if the supreme court overturned row versus wade, abortion law will be returned to the states which means the country will move in a marginally pro-life

direction. there are a lot of people to say i'd like the country to move marginally -- >> you're confusing undecideds right now with a thorough thoughtful answer. >> that's why i'm here. >> he's confusing undecided with ross douthat. one thing confounding to me about the way the campaign is playing out right now is the supreme court pitch you made, it's a pretty good one. and i don't quite understand why that hasn't played a more central role in the obama messaging at this stage. >> what are you talking about? the obama has been only about abortion. >> the supreme court in particular if you look at romney has picked someone to be his running mate who believes the government should bare the children of their rapist. if he picks that person for his vice president, he may pick somebody -- >> let me clarify. >> it's shocking and true. >> it's important to clarify. that's a very important issue.

it's important to be clear the romney/ryan ticket doesn't support abortion except in cases of rape, incest and life of the mother. it is an important issue for undecidedings and independents, economy and jobs is the number one. currently we have a terrible economy and not going to support an incumbent leading us down a bad economic road. >> we've got to end it there. when we come back none of us are undecided. we're all going to give our unsolicited advice. and that's coming up right here. we've hijacked wolf blitzer's "the situation room" and doing our own unsolicited advice. stay right here. ♪

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unsolicited advice right here on cnn. and it's now time for our brilliant panel to give our advice even though nobody asked for it. let me start with my good friend van jones. who's your target? >> my target is paul ryan. surprise, surprise, it turns out that he is a big anti-poverty champion. nobody knew that, unless you read "the onion." i'm not joking. he came out today on this big speech about the poor and i already knew it was coming because the onion said as a joke paul ryan was going to come out and stick up for poor people and put it to rest. if paul ryan wants to become a champion of the poor, here's my advice, if you want it not to be seen as a joke by the onion and everybody else, take your plan, cut it into 1,000 pieces and flush it away. kaiser came out unfortunate timing for him and says his plan is going to cut $1.7 trillion from medicaid. medicaid is a program that poor people -- working poor people

rely on when they get sick so they don't get impoverished by the sickness to get into the middle class. if you want to be a champion, take your plan, tear it up and do not take $1.7 trillion away from poor working people. that's my advice. >> this is the whole role of government argument. what about head start? >> why are you asking me? i'm an undecided voter. i think the argument that van and many liberals make is that in order to, you know, be on the side of the poor, you have to support or increase levels of government spending. >> not dying for being sick. something like that. >> it's important to note that free markets have lifted more people out of poverty than any anti-poverty government program that we have in the world. free market is the way to go. >> people also mistake the extent to which the ryan plan deviates from even decades of even conservative thinking about the social safety net and pushes it much further in a libertarian direction. >> we had more of a conversation about what helps poor people

than either of the candidates. fantastic. >> now i'll take us far away from it because out of politics entirely. i heard van made a foray into science fiction into yesterday's show and i'm going to make a foray and offer advice to the millions and millions of americans who love the "lord of the rings" franchise. the first hobbit movie is coming out and i'm warning americans right now prepare for disappointment. because basically what jackson has done this time is take the hobbit, which is a book a third the length of the lord of the rings and break it into three movies. essentially you're having a movie for every 75 pages of the book. we just learned today that the first movie will be two hours and 40 minutes long. so the off shot of this is be prepared for boredom, padding and a sense that this time the makers of the movies are just cashing in. >> do you have any idea how hard i tried to be interested in that? i mean, i just -- >> you know --

>> you are such a nerd. i had no idea. i'm sure van -- >> this is blasphemy for you to speak out -- this is worse than your defense of the undecided -- fur you to speak out against mr. jackson. >> if you were casting on the basis of the washington political elite, who would you cast? >> i'm going to do a rare thing and quote my wife. she for her sins had to watch all the republican primary debates. and she loved them. she thought they were great entertainment. she thought it was a fellowship of the ring. you had jon huntsman as the baffled elf in one end. and honestly i think ron paul in that scenario kind of hunched and -- >> crashes, gould. >> go ahead, alice. >> my unsolicited advice, of course all my advice is unsolicited, would be for president obama. van, if you would be so kind as to pass this along. i think it's great, i think it's encouraging he's showing the american people who he is, showing his style and personality. when he was elected we weren't really sure who he was other than he's a likable cool guy.

he was a great father and wonderful husband and what he's doing now is showing us who he is. i think he needs to continue doing that. i think he needs to show what he's been showing in the debates, that he is a disrespectful guy, that he's condescending. he needs to continue doing what he did speak in condescending manner when he talked about aircraft and submarines and be snar ki to his opponent. i think he needs to continue doing what he's doing talking about small things like big bird and bayonets and binders of women. he needs to avoid talking about the big things like benghazi and budgets and the burden of unemployment. continue doing that. that's who he is. the american people have been asking who is barack obama. >> i don't know any american people who have been asking who is barack obama. maybe people watching fox, but the rest of us know who he is. and i'll tell you who he is. he is somebody who showed up for work every day and tried to help the american people while the republican caucus stood back and let this economy go -- >> all right. >> -- republican caucus voted against their own policy.

they voted against tax cuts for 98% of americans, which the president's for. >> we can argue -- i want to get to frank's advice. >> his likability numbers and approval numbers are still incredibly high given everything. my unsolicited advice was for the media and i had some high minded advice i'm going to dish out. but on the basis of these two clowns over here, i'm going to say pundits, stop talking about science fiction. we don't care about your star trek conventions. >> frank, lord of the rings is fantasy. it's totally different. >> the fine difference that these nerds can parse. >> yeah. well, we're out of time for my unsolicited advice. just wanted to tell richard mourdock you may have just lost -- richard mourdock, you may have just lost the election in the senate campaign because you think you know what god intends. god is okay with rape, but he's not okay with women who may need an abortion for the life of the mother. >> i'm pretty sure he didn't say god's okay with rape. i'm pretty sure that's not what

he said. >> you're right. god intended. it's a gift. >> so you think a child conceived from rape we should think of that child as evil and twisted? >> no. of course not. i think women have a choice. >> but he was talking about the child, right? >> the question is more about what god thinks. and i think we're just done with it. and this is got to be a woman's choice. i love men talking about this. i'm out of time. i didn't mean to butcher what richard mourdock thinks. let's go back to the guy wlo does have the facts and will get it right every time, wolf blitzer. >> you guys are very, very nice. thanks very much for that. some home comings are sweeter than others. the united states marine he had one he will never forget meeting someone special for the very first time. [ female announcer ] introducing yoplait greek 100.

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lisa's back monitoring some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. including a harsher prison sentence -- excuse me, for the so-called millennium bomber. >> he was resentenced today by a u.s. appeals court. the court found that his original 22-year prison term was too lenient and added 15 years to his sentence for plotting to set off explosivesexplosives. federal prosecutors claimed he went back to help other suspected militants. and hurricane sandy is pounding jamaica and drawing a beat on cuba. the category 1 storm is packing maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour. both jamaica and cuba are under hurricane warnings and the bahamas are under a tropical storm warning. sandy is forecast to miss the united states entirely. and we all know this, our men and women in uniform make unimaginable sacrifices when

they serve overseas. the missed anniversaries, the first days of school and time that they never can get back. ashley porter, from our affiliate wtsp reports on a marine's homecoming that was more special than usual. >> reporter: through the crowd of suitcases and passengers. >> what time is it? >> reporter: you see the smiles and the signs of a family. >> it's overwhelming. >> reporter: waiting for their marine to come home. >> it's not easy. but when you really love somebody, it's worth it. >> reporter: during each of her husband's four deployments, dana has done this wait. but her daughter, 4-month-old sofia, never has. >> are you excited to meet daddy? >> reporter: this will be her first time ever meeting her dad. contract and communications field specialist. >> she already has teeth. >> reporter: when she was born, he was already in afghanistan. >> when we were in the hospital we videotaped that and sent it to him. as far as skyping, i think he maybe has skyped with her three or four times. the internet's not very good over there. it's very difficult.

>> reporter: sofia looks and acts like her dad, which has made the wait easier for her mom. >> i feel like now i have a part of him home. >> reporter: and she's about to have all of him here. >> hi, baby. oh, my lord. look at her go. >> reporter: as fellow passengers stop to take it in. >> the feeling is just a sigh of relief. no words to express it. i was just so happy. oh, jesus. >> oh, it's stories like that that make you want to tear up. that was our affiliate wtsp. he will have two weeks of diaper changing duty before returning to afghanistan, but he expects to be home for good by christmas time. everybody loves a story like that. that father seeing his little girl. very cute little baby by the way. >> still have 60,000 or 70,000 u.s. troops in afghanistan. a lot of them will be there not just 2013 but in 2014 as well

under this current schedule. two years they're suppose today stay there and then all of them will be out. >> and we all know it's a sacrifice for the families. that's the thing to keep in mind. a real human sacrifice there. >> lisa, thank you. hillary clinton comes out firing. we're going to hear her reaction to those newly revealed e-mails about the attack that killed the united states ambassador to libya and three other americans. that focused less on fees and more... on what matters? maybe your bank account is taking too much time and maybe it's costing too much money. introducing bluebird by american express and walmart. your alternative to checking and debit. it's loaded with features, not fees. because we think your money should stay where it belongs. with you. the value you expect. the service you deserve. it feels good to bluebird. get it at your local walmart.

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story for us. what are you learning, suzanne? >> right, wolf. we know the release of the e-mail certainly has provided ammunition for critic who is say the administration hasn't been forthcoming with what they knew about the benghazi investigation, but they also highlight a growing frustration among those within the administration who are saying enough already. let's get on with bringing those responsible to justice. >> i've said it. and i'll say it one more time. no one wants to find out what happened more than i do. >> reporter: secretary hillary clinton came out firing today after e-mails obtained by cnn made clear that shortly after the attack began the state department notified officials from the white house, the top intelligence agency, the pentagon and fbi that an attack was underway and that ambassador stevens was in the compound. just two hours later another e-mail indicated the libyan extremist group claiming responsibility for the attack on social media websites. >> so what you saw in the e-mails in that realtime was a real description and if you noticed, there was no talk of

demonstrations or other things. and it was clearly very early identified with a terrorist affiliate of aqim. >> reporter: clinton said "cher picking a document does not tell the whole story. an initial claim of responsibility is not solid evidence." >> posting something on facebook is not in and of itself evidence. and i think it just underscores how fluid the reporting was at the time and continued for some time to be. >> reporter: the group denied being responsible the next day. in fact, intelligence officials do not believe this libyan group is solely responsible. a u.s. government official tells cnn that the latest intelligence suggests a core group of suspects that launched the initial part of the attack on the mission was somewhere between 35 and 40, around a dozen of them are believed to have ties to either al qaeda in iraq or al qaeda in the islamic mall. still others part to be of the group and many said to be

egyptian jihadis. still looters and unarmed. now, a suspect in the attack is being held in tunisia where the u.s. has been denied access to him. the ranking republican on the intelligence committee. cnn has been told that the suspect's name is a tu neez yan connected to extremist groups in north africa. the u.s. first became aware of him when he posted on social media details of the attack while it was happening. when he left for turkey he was detained at the request of u.s. and later transferred to tunisia, wolf. >> suzanne kelly, thank you. and you're in "the situation room." happening now, a key battleground state may no longer be a toss-up. we're making an important change to cnn's electoral map. the scramble for electoral votes takes on new urgency. president obama speaks this hour in another key battleground state. we're going live in a moment to colorado. and the federal government sues a major bank for a billion

dollars, yes, with a b, a billion dollars saying it committed massive fraud by selling bad mortgages. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." right now president obama's in denver, the second stop of what he's calling a 48-hour fly-around campaign marathon extravaganza. i want to listen in. >> i mean what i say. i do what i say i'm going to do. we haven't finished everything that we want to get done. that's why i'm running for a second term. but every single day that i set foot in the oval office, i'm fighting for your families. and with your help i've kept many of the major commitments

that we made. i told you we'd end the war in iraq. we ended it. i said we'd end the war in afghanistan, we are. i said we'd refocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11. and now we've got a new tower rising above the new york skyline and al qaeda's on the path to defeat. osama bin laden is dead. our heroes are coming home. i've kept those promises. i promise to cut taxes for middle class families and small businesses. and we have. i promised to end taxpayer funded wall street bailouts for good. and we did. i promised to repeal don't ask, don't tell. and today you can't be kicked out of the military because of who you are and who you love. i bet on american workers and american ingenuity. and we saved a dying auto

industry that's back on top of the world. on issue after issue we are moving forward. after losing nine million jobs in the great recession, our businesses have now added more than five million new jobs over the past two and a half years. manufacturing's coming back to our shores. the unemployment rate has fallen. home values and home sales are rising. our assembly lines are humming. we've got a long way to go, colorado, but we've come too far to turn back now. we cannot go back to the same policies that got us into this mess. we got to keep moving forward with the policys that are getting us out. and that's why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states. now, you know -- [ cheers and applause ]

now, the reason i want four more years is because i've got a plan that will actually create jobs. a plan that will actually create middle class security. and unlike mitt romney, i'm actually proud to talk about what's in my plan. because it actually adds up. and if you want to check it out, go to barackobama.com/plans. there's still people out there trying to make up their mind. some of you may be trying to make up your mind. no, no -- no. now, you know, somebody may have dragged you here. maybe, you know, your grandma said, i'm sorry, you got to come. maybe your girlfriend is trying to knock some sense into you, said, no, no, you've got to come to the rally. so i want you to compare my plan

to governor romney's. see which plan you think is better for you. see which plan is better for america's future. look, i want to end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, but i also want to reward small businesses and manufacturers that are creating jobs right here in the united states. i want to cut our oil imports in half by 2020. and we're going to develop traditional sources of energy. and today we are less dependent on foreign oil than any time in the last two decades. but it's not enough just to produce more oil and natural gas. we've also increased fuel standards on cars and trucks so your car will go farther on a gallon of gas. i want to build on the progress we've made doubling clean energy. i want fuel efficient cars and long lasting batteries and wind turbines manufactured here in

china -- i don't want them manufactured in china, i want them manufactured here in the united states. i want them manufactured right here in colorado. right here in america. and by the way, it will be good for our environment. it will help -- it will help conserve the incredible natural beauty of this state. we can do that. i want to make it a national mission to educate our kids and train our workers better than anyone else in the world. i want to have 100,000 math and science teachers, train 2 million workers at community colleges to get the skills that businesses are hiring for right n now. i want to work with our colleges and universities to keep tuition growth low, cut it in half over the next ten years. we can do that. >> all right. the president with his new stump speech. he's saying repeatedly now all

over the place, yesterday and today, he says what he means, he means what he says. he's promising that things will be better over the next four years. we'll continue to monitor what he's saying in denver, colorado, another one of those key battleground states. this election comes down to a handful of key states, the ones you see here in yellow. as the candidates cut back and forth across the map, across the country, they're looking for ways to get to that magic number, 270 electoral votes. our own electoral map, by the way, right now is changing. for that let's bring in our chief national correspondent john king. a significant change, i should say. >> it is a significant change. the first two changes perhaps not so significant in the sense that we are going to move missouri -- we've had it leaning romney, we're going to move it solid romney. we're very comfortable saying that's solid romney. and also indiana which the president carried four years ago but there's no presidential democratic activity in indiana right now. we moved that over. that has no impact on our electoral map. 237 leaning for the president

and 191 leaning strong for governor romney. we're now prepared to lean red for governor romney, what that does, wolf, is in the soft and steady romney states it adds him up to 206. the president 237, governor romney now as we lean north carolina red gets to 206. so then the question is when you look at the remaining toss-up states, there are eight of them, the president is in one as we speak, colorado has nine, nevada out west battleground of six electoral votes. when you look at this map, what is the key to get to 270? for governor romney it starts with this, florida is a must-win state. back from reporting in virginia, it's a dead heat in the polls. the romney campaign very much needs virginia. they believe like north carolina it's trending their way. the obama campaign says, watch, we can win virginia. you give that to governor romney, that would get him to 248. this is where this becomes key. no republican has ever won the white house without ohio, which has 18 electoral votes in this cycle. if romney can win it, that would get him to 266, wolf.

and then if he won any one of the remaining toss-up states, wisconsin, iowa, new hampshire, the two out west i just mentioned, that would get governor romney there. however, the president has had a persistent lead in the state of ohio. a small lead but stubborn lead. we'll keep that at toss-up. that's governor romney's math. but if you look at the president there, if he could turn this blue, that would put him on the doorstep and the president would have a much more favorable map. put this back to where we have it. stop for now. by leaning north carolina, it puts governor romney closer, put these back to where they belong and back to the true map, but with heading into these last 13 days now, wolf, that helps governor romney a little bit. but you look at these other states, the president still has an easier path. >> as you know an hour ago we released -- "time" magazine i should say, released a new poll in ohio 49% for president obama, 44% for mitt romney. three-point sampling error. right now with 13 days to go and

13 days still a long time, john, it's looking good in ohio for the president. >> it is. let me show you, can governor romney win without ohio? i'll show you that scenario. and the romney campaign doesn't like that poll. they say governor romney's winning in that. how do you win a bellwether swing state by 24 points among independents and still lose? they say there are too many democrats but a lot of comments about polls these days. say for the argument that that one stays blue. if the president wins ohio, it would move him up with nothing else changed to 255. put him on the doorstep. how could governor romney get to 270? again, no republican's ever done it without winning ohio. but can he do it? it's mathematically possible. the question is, is it feasible? give him back florida and virginia, that would get him to 248. the romney campaign is feeling more confident, the president is there right now. again for this hypothetical give romney to ohio. how does he get to 270 without ohio? that's dicey.

nevada, 263. then he could win new hampshire, that would get him to 267. then he would have to win one of these midwestern states and they do feel,ed romney campaign, feel they can take iowa. that would get them there. also competitive in wisconsin but that's been stubborn in the president's camp as well. that would get them there if they ran the map. the problem is, the president's team sees this happening too. they say no. and you'll see the president back out here. they say they can take that away, that would bring that down. can governor romney get there without ohio, wolf? yes, is it a likely scenario? probably not. >> we'll know in 13 days what it is, john. thanks very much, john king reporting for us at the magic wall. the federal government sues a major bank for, yes, a billion, with a b, a billion dollars knowingly committing fraud with mortgages. and highlighting the president's role in getting osama bin laden. it airs two days before the election.

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some more questions surfacing today about the september 11th attack in libya. jack cafferty's following that. he's got the cafferty file. jack. >> interesting development, wolf. the truth about what happened in benghazi and when president obama knew it could have a big impact in these the closing days of this presidential campaign. turns out the white house, the state department and the fbi were all told two hours after the september 11th attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi that an islamic militant group had claimed responsibility, two hours. one government e-mail from the state department shows a libyan group claimed responsibility for the attack on facebook and twitter. that group denied responsibility the next day. this is big, i think. it suggests the president had reports that very day that the attacks that killed u.s. ambassador chris stevens and

three other americans were not because of some film clip. and yet we heard just the opposite for a long time. took the administration nine days to refer to the attack as the work of terrorists. instead, top officials insisted there was no evidence suggesting that the attack was planned or imminent. they continued to suggest that it was that anti-muslim video produced in the united states that fueled a spontaneous protest in benghazi. this includes folks at the very top of the government, secretary of state hillary clinton, the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. susan rice, and the state department spokeswoman. what did the president and his top lieutenants ham and hau for so long before telling us what really happened? try politics. as for this latest report, the white house says these e-mails were part of a public flow of information in the aftermath of the attack and that it's the job of the intelligence community to sort through all of this. they still refuse to accept any responsibility for misleading

us, the american people. however, the more information that comes out about the benghazi attack, the more questions there are about how the administration handled this. that's not good for mr. obama just 13 days before the election. here's the question, why didn't president obama tell us the truth about what happened in benghazi? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile, post a comment on my blog. or go to our post on "the situation room" facebook page. wolf. >> you're going to get a lot of e-mail, jack. >> i think so. >> thank you. president obama did what's called as an off the record interview with "the des moines register," an important newspaper into a key battleground state. but then made it on the record following an unusual appeal from the newspaper's editors who said the president had nothing to lose by making his comments public. our chief political analyst gloria borger is here. i read as you did the transcript of the interview. >> right here. >> the president gave that des moines newspaper. among other things he said this and i'll put it up on the screen

"it will probably be easy, it won't be pleasant, but i'm absolutely confident we can get what is the equivalent of a grand bargain that essentially i've been offering to the republicans for a very long time." he's talking about an economic deal if he's re-elected before the u.s. goes over that so-called fiscal cliff. >> right. and, you know, i think the president sounds very confident here. i'm not sure he's a little overconfident. he's trying to be reassuring to the editors in des moines. the question was asked, how can you keep partisanship from continuing to grow? and how can you break the gridlock in washington? which is something people care about in iowa and everywhere else. and what he seemed to be saying is, look, we can cut the deal that we couldn't cut last time. the truth however is that it's going to be messy, as he says, if they can get that deal. and that if he wins, it's more likely that the congress remains pretty much the same. and that would make it more

difficult for him. so i think this was kind of a reassuring way of trying to answer that question, are you the guy to break gridlock like you promised you would four years ago and we didn't see that happen. >> an endorsement from the des moines register is important in a state like iowa, iowa very, very important right now. originally the newspaper agreed to what the white house wanted, the obama campaign wanted, an off the record on background kind of telephone briefing for the editorial writers. then apparently the editor said we didn't get him on the record and then the campaign said you could have it on the record. sort of unusual, isn't it? >> it was kind of unusual. as you read through the entire transcript, there's not a lot in there except, you know, at one point when the president puts on his political analyst hat and says that if he wins this election, it's because republicans have alienated the fastest growing demographic and that's latinos. but it's sort of interesting to me that the president was off the record or tried to be saying things that he should be saying

out on the campaign trail, which is he wants to get immigration reform, he wants to try and get a grand bargain, he wants to get tax reform. he is saying publicly that he wants to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion. these are a second -- part of a second term agenda, which is exactly what people have been clambering to hear from the president. >> very interesting indeed. all right. at least he's on the record. we'll see which candidate that newspaper endorses. >> we will. be important. >> gloria, thank you. a republican senate candidate under serious fire right now for saying pregnancy resulting from rape is "god's will." so what's the impact on the campaign trail?

cnn has turned up some new information about a shooting case that's captured worldwide attention. lisa sylvester's here. she's monitoring that, some of the day's other top stories. what do you know? >> hi, wolf. cnn has exclusively learned authorities in pakistan have identified a suspect and made nine arrests in the near fatal shooting of a teenage girl who spoke out against the taliban. the suspect's mother, brother and fiancee are among those who have been arrested. the girl, malala yousufzai, now is in a british hospital where she's being treated for a head wound. and in another hopeful sign for the u.s. economy, sales of new homes hit a two-year high in september. but there's still a long way to go before things are back to pre-recession levels. until 2006 at the peak, builders were selling roughly a million new homes a year. if the current pace keeps up, the annual rate will be only about 389,000. and another person has died and nine new cases of meningitis are reported as a result of contaminated drug injections.

by the federal government's count there are now 317 cases and 24 deaths nationwide. massachusetts's governor says federal authorities have now launched a criminal investigation into the practices at the new england compounding center. that is the company that produced these drugs, wolf. lisa, thank you. thanks very much. at this week's presidential debate, mitt romney criticized president obama for not visiting israel as president of the united states. we're about to hear from a former u.s. congressman who supports president obama. he was at a private meeting a few years ago where the president explained why. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol

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dozens of palestinian rockets launched from gaza continue to fall on southern israel today causing further damage. israel has retaliated with air strikes aimed at rocket launches squads. four palestinians have died including at least two militants. kr, nn's senior international

correspondent sara sidner joining us from jerusalem right now. sara, what's going on? >> reporter: look, we've been watching an escalation in attacks from gaza -- rocket attacks and then subsequent air strikes from the israeli military over the past couple of weeks, wolf. but in the past 24 hours there has been a serious escalation and explosion if you will of activity. more than 70 rockets and mortars were fired into israel, into southern israel from gaza in about a 14-hour period alone. three workers from abroad who were working on a farm on the gaza border in southern israel were injured seriously enough they had to be taken to the hospital. and there are several areas the es clon area in particular and the council region, they have told people not to go to school. they closed the schools. and there were several houses there damaged. those two areas well within reach of rocket fire from gaza. hamas, the militant gaza

government, has basically spread out some of their leaflets to the people in gaza telling them the rocket attacks were in retaliation for the killing of two of its members of its military wing from air strikes by israel. and it's an interesting point made because usually hamas does not claim responsibility. they haven't been doing that. they sort of taken a backseat since the 2008 military action by israel. and so this seems to be some sort of confidence that we're seeing from hamas. the reasons for it may be many, one particular reason might be that this week on tuesday the emir of qatar made a visit to gaza and the first arab lead tore go into gaza since hamas took over in 2007. now, in retaliation for all of these rocket attacks, israel has had more air strikes and tank fire total of four militants have been killed in gaza due to air strikes.

and eight palestinians injured, wolf. >> sara, i guess the fear is that this could escalate into something a lot more serious indeed all-out war between hamas and gaza and israel. how concerned are folks over where you are in jerusalem? >> reporter: you know there's always concern about that. it hasn't been declared. but i want you to hear the response from prime minister benjamin netanyahu after the rockets came into israel by the dozens. he says "we didn't choose this escalation and we didn't invite it, but if it continues we are prepare today take a much wider and deeper operation." his defense minister ehud barak talked on israeli army radio this morning less hawkish saying that at the moment there is no need for escalation. however, the government will of course evaluate the situation. since he said that, there have been more rockets falling in israel. as for how the palestinian authority sees the situation,

the palestinian chief negotiator had this to say just a couple of hours ago due to their illegal blockade, israel remains the occupying power in gaza. therefore we hold israel fully responsible for any harm to our people there." but of course they are not in charge in gaza. hamas is. right now the rockets have stopped falling. there is calm. the question is for how long, wolf. >> sara sidner reporting for us from jerusalem. sara, thanks very much. the middle east as all of our viewers know became a hot topic in the final presidential debate here in the united states. let's dig deeper with robert wexler, a strong supporter of president obama. saw you sitting next to the first lady at that debate in florida the other day in boca raton. now, let's talk a little about the middle east fallout from the debate. because what's happening now between gaza and israel, hamas and israel, it could have

been -- it could have political fallout here in the united states. bob sheafer, the moderator, asked the president of the united states specifically if an attack on israel should be seen as an attack on the united states. and the president said u.s. has israel's back. but he didn't go far enough some people suggest saying, yes, an attack on israel is an attack on the united states. what do you say? >> effectively, wolf, the president did say yes in every which way an attack on israel will be responded to by the united states of america. he could not have been more clear. governor romney essentially echoed president obama's answer. >> but he didn't flatly say yes. he just said the u.s. will have israel's back. bop schieffer pointed out an attack is an attack on the united states. he didn't say rockets coming in from israel -- >> we have a treaty with nato

and we have different legal obligations -- >> should the u.s. have that same legal treaty obligation with israel? >> i personally think it should. i think it should be -- we should do everything we can to enhance israel's security. that's in fact what the president has done. as we speak, wolf, 1,500 american military officers are in israel participating in the largest joint american/israeli exercise in the history of the state of israel. that sends an incredibly strong message to those who wish to do israel harm whether it be in iran or hamas. and i think it's critically important like your report shows, those rockets are coming over. many of them are being intercepted by the iron dome system which was funded largely by the united states with the initiation from president obama. the united states and israel have enjoyed the most significant degree of security cooperation in the history of our nations. >> the other issue that came up in the debate and mitt romney keeps pointing it out, that as president of the united states, the president did not visit

israel. he went there as a candidate. he went to egypt. he went to saudi arabia. he went to turkey. but he didn't have time, didn't want to go to israel for whatever reason. he turned the question around and said this in the debate, i'll play the clip. >> if we're going to talk about trips that we've taken, when i was a candidate for office, first trip i took was to visit our troops. and when i went to israel as a candidate, i didn't take donors, i didn't attend fundraisers. i went to the holocaust museum there to remind myself the nature of evil and why our bond with israel will be unbreakable. >> so if he's in the neighborhood, egypt, saudi arabia, turkey, he went to iraq, why not visit israel? why didn't he go to israel? >> wolf, again, as you know, the most important aspect of our relationship with israel is

security. >> i know. at the time there was a lot of people asking serious questions. why not visit israel if he's in egypt? >> the president of the united states chooses his schedule. he went to egypt to make a speech to the muslim world. of course there are some that argue we were at war with the muslim world. we were in war in iraq, war in afghanistan. thankfully, wolf, we're not at war, in fact, we're at the strongest ally of the jewish state. let's put this in a historic context please. >> i just want to report what i was told at the time because i asked people at the white house, people in the obama administration, why isn't he visiting israel? and you know what i was told? he wanted to offer some tough love to israel. repeatedly high officials were saying that to me because israel -- he wanted israel to freeze settlement activity in east jerusalem and the west bank, a big issue with prime minister netanyahu and he wanted some space. you were at the meetings with the president when he made that clear to you as well.

>> that's just one side of the story, wolf. what the president was seeking to do was extract from the arab world, from the king of saudi arabia and others different kinds of incentives to israel so that israel would feel more confident to offer those kinds of concessions. concessions being offered by the arab world such as overflight rights and -- >> do you like the fact he wanted to engage in what he described as tough love with the israelis? >> he never described it in that terms to me. >> "the washington post" reports on that first meeting in july of 2009 with jewish leaders at the white house, the president's quoted as saying, look at the past eight years during the bush administration, during those eight years there was no space between us and israel. and what did we get from that? when there is no daylight, israel just sits on the sidelines. and that erodes our credibility with the arab states. george mitchell, who was the special middle east negotiator, he said you had to have some settlement freeze, some tough love, if you will. >> no. he said we needed to have a

settlement freeze along with concessions by the arab world and a complete cessation of violence on the palestinian side. but back to the issue of trips, which i think is very important. it needs to be put in context. president obama has met with prime minister netanyahu more than any other leader in the world. they have constant phone calls, not five-minute calls or ten-minute calls, but one-hour long phone calls. >> this is the point i want to make and i'll let you respond. if he had gone to jerusalem, he would have met with the israelis, he would have met with the palestinians, he could have shared his commitment to advancing the peace process which is so important as a result of the failure over these past four years, there is no peace process right now. >> wolf, governor romney's criticism is hypocritical. did governor romney criticize president bush for not visiting israel during his first term? did governor romney criticize the first president bush for never visiting israel while he was president? did governor romney criticize

president reagan? president reagan didn't visit israel in his two terms. >> if he had a do-over, you think he should have gone? >> i didn't say that, wolf. >> do you? >> no. he visited israel twice as a united states senator. i have no doubt if he's re-elected he'll visit israel when the time is appropriate to achieve something meaningful. that's the key. to achieve something meaningful. to bring an end to the israeli/palestinian conflict on appropriate terms. to bring the arab world to israel in a way that is meaningful for israel and its security and its economy. >> all right. we got to leave it unfortunately right there. >> okay. >> it's a serious discussion. and i think historians would look back and report on the peace process or the lack thereof will probably say he had an opportunity there to address the palestinians directly, address the israelis directly. instead that whole tough love that came with some space he wanted with the israelis, obviously it didn't exactly work out the way he would have liked, the way you would have like and the palestinians and robert

wexler, i've got to end it there. you're not going too far away. we'll take a quick break. more after this.

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another republican candidate touched off a political fire storm with a stunning comment about rape and abortion. the controversy directly impacts the senate race in indiana, but it's already becoming an issue in the presidential campaign as well. here's cnn's senior congressional correspondent dana bash. >> wolf, when richard mourdock ousted veteran republican senator richard luger earlier this year in a gop primary, the more conservative mourdock immediately made the indiana senate race more competitive. but new controversial remarks about abortion and rape could

have implications far beyond indiana, namely the race for the white house. the question in this debate tuesday evening was about abortion. republican richard mourdock explained why he's opposed even in the case of rape. >> i struggled with it myself for a long time. but i came to realize life is a gift from god. and i think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape that it is something that god intended to happen. >> reporter: national democrats heard those words, something god intended to happen, and within ten minutes they pounced. hoping to make him a late-breaking example of what they call a gop war on women. and they tied him to mitt romney highlighting the fact that romney just cut an ad endorsing mourdock. >> i hope you'll join me in supporting richard mourdock. >> reporter: bad timing for romney. aggressively trying to lure undecided female voters. romney does support allowing abortion in the case of rape. and a spokeswoman quickly announced mourdock's views don't reflect romney's.

gop senator abruptly canceled plans to campaign for mourdock and he called a hastily arranged news conference to clarify he wasn't saying rape was something god intended to happen. >> life is precious and that abhor violence. if they came away with any other impression than that, i truly apologize. >> reporter: a controversy sparked by these comments from todd akin. >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has a way to shut that out. >> reporter: republicans are standing behind mourdock. gop sources say his comments, not articulate, mirror those especially in indiana that life should be preserved even in the horrific circumstance of rape. >> i've taken a stance to say that i support life. >> reporter: mourdock who ousted veteran richard luger in a primary this year was already in a dead heat with conservative

democrat also opposed to abortion but makes an exception for rape. democrats are hoping this helps donnelly snatch the seat from the gop making it harder for republicans to take control of the senate. mourdock claims it will help him. >> i think this issue certainly serves to energize those people who have supported me. sometimes controversy can be a good thing in politics. >> privately, top gop sources admit this is the last thing romney needs with fewer than two weeks left and a strategy to try to attract undecided female voters. but a romney aide says he still supports mourdock and romney will not ask mourdock to pull his tv ad endorsing him. wolf. >> dana bash, an important story. thanks very much. comprehensive report. polls show president obama running far, far ahead among latino and african-american voters. in our next hour we're taking a closer look at why he's not doing all that great with white voters. on my way to the board meeting... anne's tablet called my phone.

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jack is back with the adequate cafferty file." >> why didn't president obama tell us the truth about what happened in benghazi. >> presidents think they can tide the truth from the american people. obama thinks he is smarter than the average american and he is not. the administration did not provide adequate security. >> i think the official response makes a lot of sense. there were several possible explanations for what happened. it's not uncommon for numerous

groups to take responsibility. how do you verify a claim of that nature? >> d say it's was clearly not optimal for him to admit that al-qaeda was on the run. this man was elected to take the 3:00 a.m. call. he would not even take the 4:05 p.m. call. we know where his priorities lie. lou says we think everything is some great big cover up. this happened in a distant country, and i doubt every detail was unclear. the victims say they're satisfied with the way they're handling the investigation, so let's wait for all of the facts before we start crying foul. know how to talk with style, have access to a lot of money, and be able to lie and make it

sound like the truth. this is why you will never be elected president. if you want to find more like this, read the block on the c f cafferty file. the justice department is suing bank of america for $1 billion saying it committed fraud by selling defective mortgages. they led to countless foreclosures and huge taxpayer losses. the government alleges that a program known within the bank known as "the hustle" was intentioned to process loans at high speed. they say it was started by countrywide financial and continuing after it's purchase by bank of america in 2008. a new tv movie about the osama bin laden raid debuts a

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with odor free aspercreme. powerful medicine relieves pain fast, with no odor. so all you notice is relief. aspercreme. mix hollywood and politics and you'll get some controversy. cnn's brian tot has been taking a closer look at what's going on this time. >> that example is a new movie about the raid that killed osama bin laden. that timing and some clips in the movie, and the fact that it's backed by a well-known democrat is hollywood is drawing some fire. >> it has the real-life plot

that can draw viewers, the raid that killed osama bin laden, but can it also draw voters? seal team six is set to air on the national agree graphic channel just two nights before the election. it has real news clips of president obamin this depicting him in the days surrounding the raid. all of those fak times have conserve tis saying the movie is a political stunt. >> any time you have a movie copping out two nights before the election, being made by harvey weinstein, who is a huge supporter of president obama, of course it raises eyebrows. >> it was weinstein that suggested using more actual news fattage after he saw an early version of the movie. i asked the director about that. >> it was not done i guess to play up the president's role or make him look particularly good?

>> no, we don't pretend to get inside the president's head. harvey weinstein came into the editing room very early and wanted to get to the voracity of the story. >> and he says there's less footage of the president in the financial cut than in the earlier one. >> in the production of movies like this, is there often pressure to put in a subtle political slant? >> i've never seen that andive been on the faction, warner, and paramount lot. >> the timing of the release still wrangles some conservatives who have this to say. >> if it doesn't have a political agenda, and no

political purposes, then simply put it off by two days. >> a spokesperson for national geographic says they have a deal with netflix to have it on november 5th and 6th, so they have to air it before november 5th. they deny any political motivations in relating the film on november 4th. you know, brian, there's another popular film out there just released slamming president obama, so it's not necessarily a one-sided fe nom than in we're s -- phenomenon that we're seeing. >> no, 2016 obama's america shows the potential ramifications if he is reelected, a very negative film, and it was very popular. it made millions at the box

office, but the difference here is that was not presented as a drama. and it was released earlier this summer. most observers don't think either film will persuade voters. >> happening now, an abortion distraction for mitt romney. a candidate suggest that pregnancies from rain are god's will. off the record comments by president obama made public on who he will have to thank. and new am in addition for the response to the benghazi attack. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." the presidential candidates are racing around the country today trying to cover as much ground as possible in battleground states with only 12 13 days until the election. president obama has rallies in iowa, colorado, and nevada.

wraps up with a late night rally in vegas. our correspondents are out in full force covering the candidates and talking to voters. this hour, we begin with mitt romney's day out there on the campaign trail and his campaign's response to a senate candidate's controversial remarks about abortion and rain. our senior national correspondent jim acosta is traveling with governor romney. >> wolf, with so few days left before the election, this is no time for a distraction, but just as democrats are hammering mitt romney on women's issues, one of the gop nominees for a strict anti-abortion candidate has come back to haunt him. >> in what's now a horse race to the finish, mitt romney was rounding up votes in nevada and trying to stay on message in the economy. >> the president doesn't understand what it takes to get this economy going.

he doesn't have a plan to get jobs for americans. do i and that's why i'm going to win. >> in is that issue that every candidate for -- >> a new distraction for romney cropped up in indiana where richard mourdock made jaws drop. >> i came to realize that life is a gift from god, and even when life begins in that horrible situation of rain, that it is something that god intended to happen. >> in fall, i'm supporting richard mourdock for senate. >> romney already taped this endorsement had for mourdock, the democratic super pac pounced tieing him to other controversial statements made by mourdock. >> we don't need bipartisanship. >> i hope you'll join me in supporting richard mower doc. >> top republicans started

distancing themselves from mourdock. >> the comments were made, they have been misunderstood. >> soon after that, he held a news conference to apologize. >> i don't think god wants rain, rain is evil. >> reporter: the romney campaign said it's not calling on mourdock to pull the endorsement ad. they released a comment saying romney disagrees with richard mourdock. we still support him. on a conference call with reporters, a democratic party official says that's not far enough. >> he should further and demand the ad featuring him speaking directly to camera on mourdock's behalf be taken off the air. >> reporter: democrats say it should be an election warning to women voter who is were update

by todd akin's comments over the summer. >> if it's a legitimate rain, the women's body has a way to shut that down. >> reporter: they say it boils down to who can best help families. >> this election is about your family and families across this country, and the choice we make will have an enormous impact on your family. >> reporter: his continued support is just a sign of how close the race is to come. if we withdrawals that support, it could alienate conservatives. jim acosta, thank you, a reminder of what's at stake in nefds, six elect -- stake in ne. colorado is one of the states that the president is visiting as well and it has nine

electoral votes and it went for obama in 2008. a colorado poll taken early this month shows a very, very tight race. kate baldwin has some other important news for us now. the president says he's going to pull an all nighter just to stay on schedule. he is calling his two-day tour a campaign marathon extravaganza, but he is also getting attention for an interview he did with an iowa news paper. we're on the road with president obama, she's joining us now from denver. let's talk about his schedule in a second, but first, let's talk about that interview he did with the iowa newspaper, and that awkwardness over the interview with the des moines register.

>> yes, the publisher went public with a blog post expressioning their frustrations. after that was posting, the white house let them put it on the record. so we now know a little bit about what want president is planning in his second term. he said, among other things, he thinks this fiscal cliff crisis will be resolved within six months if he is reelected, and there will be $had 4 trillion clort of deficit reduction, and he thinks he'll get an immigration reform bill done in the first year. she quoted for saying quote, since this is off the record,ly just be very blunt. should i win a second term, a big reason i will win a second term is because the republican nominee and the republican party have so alienated the fastest growing demographic group in the country, the latino community. so i'm fairly confident that

they, means the republicans, are going to have a deep interest in getting that, meaning immigration reform, done. one of the assumptions by the obama team, kate, is if they win, and they believe they will, it will be with the help of latinos that would break heavily for them. >> jessica, the president has quite a travel schedule ahead, where is he headed and what's the message? >> so, we already have done today, we were in iowa first, now we're in denver. the president is now flying off to los angeles where he will tape the jay leno show, he has a overnight stop in las vegas, and then he is flying overnight into florida which is where we head. one of the themes he is sitting is this ronesia message and said it really translates into a matter of trust that romney is somebody that changes his

positions, but that the president is somebody who doesn't. listen to this. >> we joke about romensia. but this speaks to your choice and that is trust. when you choose a president, you don't know what is going to come up. whenning in 2008, be didn't know necessarily that we would see the financial system completely implode, that the auto industry might go under. we didn't understand what might be happening in terms of an arab spring. you were voting on somebody you felt you could trust to work for you. >> and kate, you might ask why he is doing this campaign blitz so early, and it's because it is so important, and early voting has begun or is beginning, and

they have vans ready to take folks here to cast their early ballots. >> it's all about getting them to vote, thank you so much. we'll follow up on that, we have very sensitive questions to ask about president obama's support among white voters. also, we've obtained government e-mails sent right after the attack on the u.s. diplomats in benghazi, libya. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses.

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more am in addition for critics that says the administration has not been forth coming with what they knew about the investigation, but they also highlight a growing frustration among nose in the administrations saying enough already, let's bring those responsible to justice. >> i've said it and i'll say it one more time. no one wants to find out what happened more than do i -- >> >> reporter: secretary hillly clinton came out firing today after e-mails came out today that shortly after the attack began, officials were notified at the white house that an attack was under way and that ambassador stevens was in the compound. another e-mail came that a libian group was claiming the attack. >> so what you saw in the e-mails was a real description, and if you notice, there was no talk of demonstrations or other things, and it was very clearly identified with a terrorist

affiliate of aqim. >> clinton said cherry picking a document does not tell the whole story and an initial claim of responsibility is not solid intelligence. >> posting something on facebook is not in and of itself evidence. and i think it just underscores how fluid the reporting was at the time, and continued for some time to be. >> the group denied being responsible the next day. in fact, intelligence officials do not believe this group is solely responsible. the latest intelligence suggest a core group of suspects that launched the initial part of the attack was somewhere between 35 and 40. a dozen are believed to have tied to al-qaeda. still, others believed to be part of ansar al. others were looters and unarmed -- >> a suspect in the attack is

being held in tunisia where the u.s. has been denied access to him. he is of course the ranking republican on the intelligence committee. cnn is told that she a due knee shan connected to extremist groups. he posted on social media details of the attack while it was happening. when he left libya for turkey, he was detained at the request of the u.s. and he was later transferred to tunisia. >> thank you so much. virginia has not been a presidential battleground for a long time. we're looking at the reasons why and the get out to vote efforts that could tip the race one way or the other. luckily though, ya know, i conceal this bad boy underneath my blanket just so i can get on e-trade. check my investment portfolio, research stocks... wait, why are you taking... oh, i see...solitary. just a man and his thoughts. and a smartphone... with an e-trade app.

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there is a report of a possible deal to stop the killing in syria at least for a few days. of course the united nations special envoy says they have agreed in principal to a temporary cease fire starting friday. they made the announce in many cairo. syrian rebels are skeptical of the proposal that would coincide with the muslim holiday. we have more on efforts to st s the bloodshed. >> reporter: he seems to think that he has gotten these factions to agree, but the fact of the matter is we're hearing different things from different sides. the syrian government has yet to confirm they have agreed to this. they will make their announcement tomorrow. then you have the opposition,

and there are a lot of groups, as you know, in syria. we spoke to the snc, and they say they want to agree to this. >> there was a cease fire in syria but it lasted barely a day. and also, assad original term was felt to be too lenient, federal prosecutors appealed the first sentence complaining that he went back on a deal to help them prosecute other militants. and some could be facing hurricane sandy, some models how it hitting the coast next week. it is a cat zoir one hurricane. it dumped lots of rain on the

island and it is expected to do the same when it hits cuba tonight and tomorrow. and the fastest road in the u.s. is now finally open. traffic is speeding along the final 41 mile stretch of 130. the speed limit is 85 miles per hour. it's to help ease traffic along interstate 35. >> 85 miles per hour? >> you drive the speed limit always. >> 55. >> that's what it usually is. >> a lot of cameras taking your pictures -- >> i know, they catch me a lot. one of the u.s. senate races to watch is against wisconsin that involves an openly gay ound) things have been a little strange.

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we're keeping very close watch on battleground states, including one that may be most important of all in this election. we're talking about ohio. the huh "time" magazine poll shows obama winning 49% to 44%. the margin of error is plus or minus 3% points. the poll shows the president hols a two to one advantage over romney this early voting. and now to virginia, john king spent time talking to people there and he is at the magic wall. in ten straight elections, virginia was reliably red, and then 2008 came and there was a blue for president obama. see what i just drew in? everywhere else in the state, barack obama and barack obama ran even, the president's big

martin was 240,000 votes statewide and it all came from right here. >> 12615 -- >> urgency in a place once reliably red. mitt romney's path to the white house runs through virginia, and he must run strong in the fast changing suburbs in an hour's drive. >> it's all about northern virginia. there are so many people that moved in from the northeast to democratic areas that they turned a solid red state into a purple state. >> recent polls show a dead heat. >> if you look at the dozen polls in virginia, taken before the first presidential debate on october 3rd, obama was ahead in all 12. if you look at the eight polls taken after the first presidential debate, romney was ahead in six of the eight, and now it's a dead-even tie.

>> to prove the 2008 win here was no fluke, it knows it needs to one up 200,000 votes or more. if it delivers, it could ruin governor romney's night before the hols even close in the midwest. >> the epicenter of the outcome is right here. >> i think there is a trust factor with that. my constituents remember the republican progress. they don't suffer from amnesia. >> the president has deep suburban support, but there is some cracks. this is a registered democrat who says she will vote republican as she did last time. >> from the get go, mr. obama promised so many things that i didn't believe he could do it. and he has proveen that he couldn't do it.

>> robert stevens is an independent and obama 2008 supporter. >> it was something different for the country, something that had not happened before, elected a black president, so i was caught up in that a little bit, but i think he's a disappointment. >> you don't like what you got but you're not sold on the alternative? >> absolutely not. >> there is no escaping the ads or the get out to vote effort. >> i hang up the phone. i want to make my own independent decision, i don't want anybody shoving things down by throat. i thought i would be there by now, but i'm not, but i will be. >> tense final days in a place known for they're battlefields. and obviously in the final 13 days, both campaigns putting emphasis on the ground game. the republicans say they're in better shape because one million

voter door knocks. and they say improved early voting from the 2008 election. that's why republicans say they will win virginia, but here is why democrats say no way, we'll keep it in the democratic fold. the obama campaign has latino registrations up, and of the new voters, they are under the age of 30. >> let's talk about north carolina and we're shifting that, yeah? >> we're shifting that. i want to come back to the 2008 map when north carolina and virginia shifted it to lean red. the obama campaign says not so fast. they vow to compete in north carolina to the end, and we know they have an effective ground operation, but in talking to both campaigns and veteraned in

both parties in that state, we think it's safe to say that north carolina is leaning governor romney's way. he was at 191 this morning when you give him the votes from north carolina, it gets him to 206, so a bit closer to the president. >> watching that very, very closely. john king, thanks very much. >> only a couple days ago, north carolina for all practical purposes have gone to the democrats. the president has not been there sen the convention in charlotte. let's go to the midwest right now. u wisconsin has ten electoral votes and it went for obama in 2008. the latest polling shows the president with a six point lead over romney, but it remains a toss up in our electoral map. also a very heated u.s. senate race in wisconsin as well.

here is ted rollins. >> it is the senate race between tammy and tommy. on the right, tommy thompson. he is now 70 and was george bush's secretary of health and human services. she is 50, openly gay, and up for grab social security the seat that was herb cole's. >> almost 3 similar 4 of the money sent is being spent by groups not directly associated with the candidates but are very interested in the outcome.

>> reporter: daniel bice has been covering elections for years. >> she's trying to define thompson has a good governor, but no longer supports what's right for wisconsin. he is trying to define her not as the nice tammy baldwin you see on tv but as an extreme liberal that would not vote for what the people want. >> reporter: the pundits seem to agree that each candidates have a win. they have both been ahead at times, but now -- >> right now we're at a tied ration. >> the marquette numbers thousand wisconsin is polarized. maybe because of the gubernatorial recall election. the race is close here and many believe it will be very difficult for tommy thomas to win if mitt romney doesn't. >> you don't have as much ticket splitters as the thompson campaign thought they might

have. >> reporter: there is a small percentage of undecided that will likely determine the winners in the president and senate races. >> reporter: both candidates will have an opportunity to grab some of the voters on friday before they square off for their third and final debate. thank you, president obama says if he wins reelection, there's one big reason why. we'll talk about the racial and ethnic divisions in this campaign. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation

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pb is being candid about the importance of the latino vote in his reelection. >> we told you about the interview he gave to the d des moines register. this paragraph jumped out to us, the president said, quote, i will be blunt. should a win a second term, it will be because the republican nominee and the republican party have alienated the fastest growing demographic in the country, the latino community. let's talk act the racial ethnic divisions in this election right now. we're joined be three senior

analysts. including roland martin. you saw the most recent nbc news wall street journal poll, 70% for president obama, 25% for mitt romney. if it stays like that, romney is probably not going to be elected. >> it makes it tough, but fortunately, ohio is one of the smallest latino populations. right now romney is pretty good shape in a lot of the other swing states. george bush had a more open stance toward immigrants and the hispanic population. we haven't seen that in this republican party. marco rubio, susan in a martinez, it's a new generation, but -- >> wolf, during one of the

debates for the primary, i will never forget a question from twitter. it was what will you do as candidates to attract latinos to gop. did any of them hear the question? it was a softball question, and they all reverted to building a wall. i e-mails one of the people at the polling dealing, and i said what were they thinking? >> one of the four dynamics is the future doesn't have a vote in the room. the senior strategists in the party, they all recognize they have to do better with his pan ticks over the long run or they will have a hard time competing to win a national majority. mitt romney has to get to 61% among whites, which means he could run as well among whites were any challenger ever and still lose. the problem is the current

coalition is so dependent on the older and blue collar whites, who are most ambivalent to the racial demographic going on, there's little leeway for them to move -- >> let me ask you just about that. let's look at how president obama's support broke down in 2008. white voters, 43%. african-american voters, 95%, and latino voters, 67%. >> and you wrote in a recent column that the white voters is a potential problem for president obama, how big of a problem is it? >> we have mirror image weaknesses, barack obama was the first candidate to lose whites by double digits and win. minorities are now more than 26% of the vote, and he won a combined 80% of them. if he does that again which is he is on track to do, he can win

a national majority with only 40% of whites. the problem is he may not be able to get there. in some polls, he is below 40% of whites. democrats are having troubles holding whites -- >> you have to example -- >> let's look at these numbers. of likely voters, they're choice for president -- >> this is the most recent poll that we have, the washington postabc poll, 40% right now white voters for president obama, 57% for mitt romney. there was another poll that came out earlier in october that had president obama with only 37% of the white vote. >> and where are those white voter bs, you saw with a strong folks in the tea party coming out, largely whites, and so you look at where the white voters are in the battleground states. iowa. not many hispanic and black folks, new hampshire, the same thing, people say obama could

not get blue collar workers, but look what's happening. in the states he needs, he's doing better among those white bluecollar workers -- >> let me just ask this question though, if you look at the 37% and 47%, what is the problem? even if it's not in key states. >> why is he getting such a relatively small percentage of the white vote. >> i think for a couple reasons, i think it has very little to do with race. the country did not change that much and neither did the race of the president in the united states in the last four years. if an economy collapses, who does it hit. we have seen the men -- it hit -- >> blacks are staying solid for obama. and that's -- >> no democrat whereon a majority of white votes since

ly johnson. it's skeptical that the government will do anything that benefits them. as roland correctly pointed ut, the exception to the pattern is the critical last line of defense which i think is running much better among working class whites in the midwest than ever where else. she at 42% for non -- >> the auto bailout and the case against bain has has more of an effect -- >> a census projection that came out is that minorities are respect expected to be the majority in 2042. hold your thoughts, we'll talk about concerns to see another presidential recamp like we did in 2000. the obama camp is playing on those fears. ♪

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as we get closer to election day, there's more talk about whether we could see another presidential recount like we did back in 2000. let's bring back our guests. guys, listen to this new obama campaign ad that has just come out -- >> 537. the number of votes that changed the course of american history. >> florida is too close too call. the difference between what was -- and what could have been. so this year, if you're thinking that you're vote doesn't count, that it won't matter, well, back then, there were probably least

537 people that felt the same way. >> roland, that's a pretty good ad. >> that's a great ad. >> there's a lot of concern that democrats have that the base, four years ago, that was so energized, young people, and a lot of others working very hard for the president are not that energized right now, and that ad is designed to get them going. >> there's two ways, the promise of certain things, or you scare them. and so it works. i have been to a lot of places in the country talking about voting, and i say look, i'm tired of people complaining about our country, you either vote or shut up. if you don't vote you don't get a chance to say anything at all. if you're scared, do what you have to do. >> alex, who has the better ground game in your view? >> a lot of it is field offices, and we have seen a few articles of people writing the number of

field offices, obama has significantly more field offices, but who has a better ground game in general do you think? >> you would have to say that obama has a better ground game because he had five years to build that ground game. no primary to divide his ground game occupies, but you would rather have, even if you have a great engine, you have to have gas and passion. and that's what fuels the organization. obama has a great machine, but his gas is a little watered down this year. republicans don't have the machine, but a lot of passion. there's a lot of tension in the early voting, and i think the last numbers i saw that more absentee and early voting, the republicans have 2.6 million. that's very good for republicans, democrats should be farther ahead than that. >> it comes down to a lot of

people talking about -- everyone is scared it's going to happen again, a repeat of 2000. how likely do you think it is. >> there are two things we could be disparity between the electoral college vote. if we have it happen again 12 years later, there's going to be a lot of people. >> even though half a million -- and then second is the possibility that you get back to a situation that is conceivable where neither side gets a 270 and iowa would be this one this time and ohio is a state where voting has long been a very contentious process. that would be kind of a -- >> tallahassee, we might be tapping out in columbus. >> president george w. bush won by 110,000 votes and there were a lot of democrats who wished senator john kerry had been more aggressive by having a recount

in that state. i've been saying 12. it's going to be much like 2012. >> if we get a electoral college tie, the house -- the senate gets to pick the vice president. we could end up with romney biden. what if we could end up with romney and hillary. this could be the strangest political year ever. >> in some ways, the bigger message is the third of the last four elections that are a photo finish. we are a country divided almost exactly in half. at the same time, the parties are utterly divergent in what they want to do. how do you govern a party that's divided? what happens if there's a 269-269 tie in the electoral college. >> it's not easy to sum up. >> there's a candidate who can bring everyone together, where would we find one of those? >> american president or something like that.

>> that's a hollywood version. >> it would be a major motion picture. >> it takes more than the president. at the top of the how, erin burnett has the very latest on who in the obama administration knew what about the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. give us a little preview. what are you finding out? >> well, wolf, we're going to have the latest here. we have another e-mail that has just come in, that was sent that night from members of the state department to other members of the administration. the pentagon, the fbi. we're going to tell you what that says and also talk about the man who is in custody tonight who could have been involved in these attacks and exactly how the united states government found out about him. there's a very ironic twist to this. we have that breaking news for you at the top of the hour, plus, we're going to be joined by rick santorum. we're going to talk about the path to victory and we're going to talk about abortion. >> erin, thanks very much. we'll take a brief break. lots more coming up.

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history, it's just amazing. >> they visited the statue of liberty for the first time. the story tomorrow on early start. >> why would a man parade around without clothing while serenading a santa? jeanne moos has been looking into it. >> you'd have to be a pig not to appreciate naked man singing the praises of a ham sandwich. ♪ if it sounds familiar, it's because this british ham commercial is a take off of that old sammy davis now hammy davis jr. classic he sang on playboy after dark. ♪

the ad ended up before britain, the advertising authorities said it received 371 complaints. turkey of the week. had lots of fans, including a blogger who couldn't get enough of the skruf fi hottie. the advertisers reducing shots like this. not upheld. ♪

britain's only ham made with 100% natural ingredients. >> nudity didn't get the ban, brita brita britain's only ham did. saying the advertisement has run its course, leading fans. beware, new ham with much -- jeanne moos, cnn. >> did a fact check on that advertisement. reality check, fact check. we checked it. the advertising agency. >> it's still ham though. >> all right, we've got baseball coming up tonight, too. >> i know, go tigers. ha